Clyde v Cowdenbeath

Recap

Clyde are now staring relegation squarely in the face as despite another good showing, they crashed to a home defeat against Cowdenbeath.

For the third game in a row, the Bully Wee fielded the same starting eleven, with Dmitrijs Borisovs and Marvyn Wilson taking places on the bench. The away side are going through one of their best seasons for a long time and for much of the 90 minutes had the better of possession, however, the first half involved an endless series of good chances for the Bully Wee. The first fell to Kris Doolan but his shot flew over the bar following a neat dummy by the impressive Jordan White.

Doolan was also next to have the next chance but after lifting the ball over Joe Mbu’s head, the striker’s poked finish went straight to David Hay. A lung-bursting run down the left wing by Adam Strachan saw the winger cut inside but with only the ‘keeper to beat, he saw his shot blocked. Unbelievably John Stewart then managed to slice the rebound wide and another chance was lost.

The pace on the break from Clyde was highly impressive and another flowing move saw the lively Strachan release Alex Gramovics but the Latvian’s low shot from the angle of the penalty box slid just past the far post. Strachan then had his own attempt with a powerful shot from 25 yards that was superbly tipped around the post by Hay. Doolan then received a pass from Stewart but again failed to find the target with a turn and shot.

Predictably Cowdenbeath scored with their first real attempt on goal, right on the half-time whistle. A low ball into the box found Gareth Wardlaw and although the striker’s turn was neat, his shot required a heavy deflection to see it spin beyond Callum Reidford into the bottom corner of the net. Despite this, the home support gave the team a good level of support as they left the field of play following an entertaining first half.

Sadly, the Blue Brazil seemed reasonably comfortable in the second half and Reidford almost gifted them a second goal with a sliced clearance that fell for Jay Stein, only for the ‘keeper to block his shot. Willie McLachlan then had to react quickly to block a close range effort after Reidford fumbled a corner kick. The second goal was coming however but once more it was slightly fortuitous. A poor clearance from Neil McGowan was returned with interest towards John Dempster who was left clean through on goal. The substitute fired his first effort against Reidford but the ball rebounded off of McGowan and into the net.

This saw John McCormack throw on Willie Sawyers and Borisovs in an attacking move that saw Gramovics and Stewart leave the pitch. It was the latter that had the main impact with a close range strike after Kinniburgh had knocked down Paddy Boyle’s cross. The Bully Wee continued to throw men forward but only a Sawyers shot that fizzed into Hay’s hands threatened the away goal. In fact, it was Dempster that came closest to sealing the win with a shot that just crept past Reidford’s far post.